While enjoying the day off on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day, reflect on the times before us in this country and remember that the leaders from the Slavery Abolition days and Civil Rights era did not even come close to completing the job. The history books like to present those eras in that way, but we have to look at the state of Black America today and ask ourselves the question. Are we in good shape as a people today? I hope that your answer to that question is an un-equivocating No! Our neighborhoods are drug infested and extremely impoverished. In MLK’s era it was not like that. Yes, black people were poor, but they supported each-other. And there was a sense community in those neighborhoods. MLK’s stomping grounds was the Auburn-Boulevard-Edgewood area of Atlanta. This was a thriving black middle-class area in the 60s. If you go there now, for the most part you see mass poverty amongst the black people in that area. And for the portions that are not impoverished, they are being aggressively gentrified. This could not have been the vision for Black America that MLK saw.
In fact, he spoke endless about the importance of collective economics in the Black Community, but the bulk of this message has been suppressed and uncelebrated by the mainstream media. This is why it’s important for us to support our own media platforms to control the narrative for our people. We cannot allow them to tell black people that the ones before us finished their job, and now we just sit back appreciate their efforts and move forward like there is nothing else to do. This could not be further from the truth. In fact, one could argue that the Civil Rights legislation actually caused way more harm than good for black people. We probably witnessed one of the largest transfers of wealth from one community to another in US history due to integration.
So, to that point, lets honor those before us for their efforts and willingness to put their lives on the line for our progress, but let’s also be objective and build on their movements and improve them to achieve the ultimate goal. Self-reliance; economically, politically, spiritually, and culturally for the black community. We are capable.